1. Technical Field
The invention relates to the field of information technology, and more particularly, to providing information to multiple recipients in a targeted manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many different types of applications generate information that can be shared among multiple participants. For example, the output of presentation software such as Lotus Freelance® available from Lotus Development Corporation of Cambridge, Mass., can be viewed not only on the presenter's computer, but also on a display that can be viewed by a larger audience, such as a large projection display of the sort typically used with portable computers. Other applications including electronic meeting software such as Lotus Sametime®, also available from Lotus Development Corporation, can present data that can be simultaneously viewed by the owner of the meeting as well as the meeting participants in a distributed computing environment.
Although conventional applications can be configured to present data to multiple participants, such applications provide the same data to each participant. That is, such applications provide the same data to each participant without regard for the type of data being provided or the class of user to whom the data is being provided. Thus, if a need arises to select only a subset of the total data output based on who is to receive the data, conventional applications cannot perform such actions. For example, during a business presentation, a presenter may rely upon “speaker notes” when presenting audio and/or visual material to an audience. With conventional presentation software, the audience sees the same screen content as the presenter. Thus, the presenter must prepare hard copy notes to prevent the audience from viewing the speaker notes. Similarly, in the case of conventional meeting software, although the owner or initiator of a meeting can choose who may and may not participate in a given meeting, each user can view everything that the meeting owner elects to share.
The problem further can be exacerbated when the information to be presented is not generated until after multiple participants have already begun participating in a session. Conventional applications not only rely on the meeting owner to determine which items may or may not be shared with other participants, but typically require such determinations be made prior to a meeting or other presentation session, or prior to generating the data to be shared. In situations where data is generated and shared dynamically during an online meeting, however, one may not be able to determine whether the resulting data is public or private until the data is generated and the results can be evaluated. This can be especially true in cases where the actual content of the data determines whether the information is of a public or private nature. Presently, conventional applications do not allow for dynamic determinations of whether data is public or private, nor do conventional applications evaluate data based upon the content of the data.